Monthly Archives: October 2011

Wow! It has been a long time since I’ve taken my camera on an eating extravaganza! I guess with the little guy coming I view every meal out as possibly one of the last in peace and quiet! Plus I don’t think I’ve gone anywhere new or exciting. Saturday night my parents invited me to a fundraiser dinner for the Place of Grace Catholic Worker House, the soup kitchen I sometimes mention I volunteer at. The theme for the evening was German and the food was AMAZING!

Let’s start with the appetizers shall we? First we had Wurst Sterne which was mini philo dough shell stuffed with spicy sausage and cheese…yum!

They also had Oliv Nuss Belag on a Bagel Chip which was some type of olive dip but since I don’t like olives I didn’t try it!

Then we had the salad course which featured Blattsalat a delicious salad of mixed greens, candied walnuts, apples, some type of cheese, I think gorgonzola, and a home made dressing and Brot which means bread!

The main course was a true German delight. We had Rouladen which was thinly pounded pork, wrapped around a pickle and slowly simmered in a sauce seasoned with bacon, Riesenkurbis which was squash, Rotkohl which was red cabbage simmered in a red wine sauce, and my absolute favorite German food Spaetzel which is some type of buttery pasta!

Throughout the evening there was also entertainment. Mary Ellen, the music director at my church and her daughter performed some songs from the Sound of Music which included or course, Edelweiss.

Isn’t she darling!

Then  Rachel, a junior vocal performance major at Viterbo University (the school I attended for undergrad and am currently attending for grad school) performed some beautiful German Arias and one Italian one in honor of her father who passed away few years ago.

I use to babysit her and I just can’t believe how grown up she is!

Of course no meal would be complete without dessert!

This was a very dense, chocolaty, flourless cake with Door County cherries and REAL whip cream! So good!

Not only was the food and entertainment good it was really fun to see a lot of old friends from my old church. Thanks mom and dad for taking me to this dinner! I’m just sorry we didn’t get a picture of three of us!

Hi there! Glad I got a chance to post and that Brian got to take my picture before he headed off hunting and I headed back to work!

This week our little guy has gained about 4oz so he’s just over a pound and is about 12 inches long, about the size of an ear of corn which I didn’t buy this week! Brian thought my APA manual was about the length of our baby!

It’s very hard for me to believe that something that long is inside of me! He must be all snug and curled up up in there! That must be why I am feeling so many kicks and flips! Here are some changes our baby is experiencing this week:

His brain is  growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing “branches” of the respiratory “tree” as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon. (Source)

Now granted I am wearing one of my smaller shirts but today I just felt REALLY big!

Hard to believe I will just keep getting bigger!

I have developed a rather unattractive and annoying symptom this week…snoring! Brian said the other night he came out to our living room, put ear plugs in and could STILL hear me! Fortunately it was only one night! I have also felt that things internally have shifted. I feel like my hunger is pretty normal but I get filled up much quicker than I use to, probably because my stomach is getting squished! Also I can tell when I sing at church that my breath control is different. Other than that nothing new!

Can’t believe I am officially 6 months pregnant! Sometimes it seems like FOREVER until I will get to meet our little guy but I have a feeling it will be here before I know it!

Hey friends! Happy Monday to you! Hope your day is going well. Mine has been pretty busy but productive. I promised I’d be back to share some cooking experiments I’ve been doing lately!

So, as I am sure I’ve mentioned a TON of times I currently writing my master’s thesis which is due in approximately 47 days! Essentially, I could have taken two semesters to write this BUT with the baby coming I knew I just wanted to get this MAJOR project over with and graduate in December! I pretty much feel like every spare moment I have I work on my paper. However, I’ve gotten very good at taking study breaks and one of my favorite ways to take a break is to cook something! A girl’s gotta eat right? Now that it is fall I find myself making a lot of fall inspired soups and even doing some baking ( I hardly ever bake!).

Last weekend I made a VERY easy pumpkin soup!

We had a whole pumpkin in our CSA box two weeks ago and I thought there was no better way to use it up than in soup. I had to bake the pumpkin first which was pretty much like baking a squash.

This recipe was SO easy and would you believe I actually used a written recipe and not one I found on the internet??

In one of our Co-Op flyers they had printed this recipe it seemed pretty straight forwards so I saved. It was really easy. All I did was sauté 2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery, two jalapenos (also in our CSA box) 2 small onions (CSA too!) in some oil. I added the broth and the cooked pumpkin and let it simmer for awhile. The pumpkin was still pretty chunky so I used my immersion blender to make it creamy. I did not make the chipotle sour Cream. This soup was pretty good but a little bland. I could taste the heat from the jalapenos but that was about it. I added some salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and parsley and it was okay. It was one of those recipes that tastes better the next day. Still a very easy comforting fall soup.

Last night I made another REALLY easy soup in my crockpot, Sausage and Lentil Stew.

This was SO easy. All I had to do was chop up a carrot and the sausage. I used venison Italian sausage of course and threw them in the crockpot with everything else. The beef broth, sausage, and tomatoes really provided a nice flavor and of course I LOVE lentils. The recipe suggested serving it over cornbread. I didn’t think I really wanted to bother with making cornbread but after working on my paper for awhile, and about an hour before the stew was done I looked up cornbread recipes on the internet. They all seemed so easy! I tried this one.

So easy and it turned out beautifully!

The stew tasted really good over the cornbread, a nice contrast of sweat and savory! Even Brian liked it, although he said he could do without the lentils!

So, that’s what I’ve been up to besides writing a thesis and getting ready for baby!

I’ve got a busy week on tap. Hope to be back soon with a Baby Sneaker Update!

Hi there! Hope you had a good weekend. Mine was pretty good, a nice blend of relaxation and work.

Yesterday Brian and I spend the entire day at a Childbirth Preparation class at the hospital where we will deliver our baby. Going into the class I was hoping that we would get a general overview of what will happen during labor and delivery as well as learn about all the options open to me as far as pain management goes. I also wanted Brian to learn how he can support me during labor and delivery. This class did not disappoint. Sure there were a lot of things that I already new but I also learned a lot too.

The women who taught the class had been teaching child birth class for 28 years and was a certified doula. She was SUPER upbeat and kept the presentation going. She had a couple power points but she didn’t ready EVERYTHING on them which always annoys me. We also got to see lots short video clips some animation and some live births. Even though it was 6 hours long I didn’t think it seemed very long (you might want to ask Brian what he thought ).

We covered the signs and stages of labor and when you should come to the hospital (something I didn’t know). We also got to tour the labor and delivery rooms and the postpartum rooms. I really liked this part. Can you believe that I have never spent any time in the hospital for medical reasons? Sure I’ve visited people in the hospital before and feel pretty comfortable with that but I have never been a patient. It was helpful to see where it will all take place.

We covered different methods of coping with pain including medical interventions but our instructor pointed out that a lot of the (painful) labor takes place before you even get to the hospital and it is important to learn how to deal with pain. One of the best parts was the discussion we had about the use of pain medications. We were shown a video where two women had very specific ideas about what type of labor and delivery they wanted to have and how they would utilize (or not utilize) the pain medications offered to them but both of them ended up having completely different births. We were given a sheet that gave us a scale of +10 to –10. +10 was wanting to feel nothing and having what ever type of pain medication it took to achieve that. –10 was absolutely no pain medication even in case of C-section. I decided I was a –3 or –5 meaning I would like to try for a natural birth BUT I also realize that I have NO idea how this is all going to go down. I don’t know how my body will feel or how long it will take. So I am staying open to options. It seems that it is very popular to go all natural these days but our instructor said you need to consider two things: 1. What’s safest for the baby and 2. What’s safest for the mom. Of course a natural birth is the safest for the baby BUT not if mom is so exhausted that it impedes delivery of the baby.

The best part by far was practicing relaxation techniques including massages from our husbands!

I know that I could read all the labor books and attend all the classes they offer but there is no way I will know for sure what this experience will be like for me. It’s not like going on a long training run where you get to test out what fuel works best for you or what types of clothes to wear  but I feel that this was a good way to prepare for what could happen. I have confidence in my body, that it will know what to do and I know that Brian will be an AWESOME support person for me!

On a closing note our instructor told us that in the Hebrew language there are several words that mean pain and the one that refers to the pain of child birth literally means, “Pain with Purpose.” Even though I know that labor is going to maybe be a little scary and hurt like hell in the end I’ll have beautiful little boy to love. I am even more excited than before to hold him in my arms for the first time! It will be totally worth it this I know for sure!

Hello there! It’s the post I just know you’ve all been waiting for! It’s been a busy week over here and Brian and I were finally home at the same time and long enough for him to take my picture and for me to get a post up! So, let’s see where we are at this week!

This week my baby is the size of a papaya….BUT I couldn’t find a papaya in the store! So, we improvised and used a 16 oz. bottle of Diet Coke. It says that baby is a little over 11 inches and just over 1 pound.

Please note that since we took this photo on Thursday, the day I teach fitness classes, I have not done my hair, put on make up and my contacts are already out. Hence the reason I don’t look as glamorous as I normally do!

Brian and I have been thinking up some great props to use in the future so stay tuned for that!

Interestingly these are the exact same clothes I was wearing in a Week 17  photo.  Just for fun let’s do a little comparison!

Week 17                    Week 23

Definitely some changes in the last 6 weeks! Probably the funniest change I’ve noticed is how my pajamas fit. Since it’s gotten a little colder over here I got out some warmer jammies. They fit alright but the shirt is WAY to short and my belly hangs out. I just had to laugh!

I had a midwife appointment on Tuesday. It was a very short check up. She asked me if I had any questions which I didn’t. I got weighed and she said I have gained a bit more than is “normal” for this stage in the game. She didn’t seem worried and said we would just monitor it for next month. I guess I’m not worried either as I am still working out 5-6 times a week for 45minutes-60 minutes (or more if I teach) and while I have indulged in a few things here and there I am still pretty much eating the same as I did before I was pregnant. She also measured my belly from top to bottom and it is suppose to be the same number of inches as weeks pregnant that you are. I measured 23 inches!Spot one!  Blood pressure was all good and I got to hear the baby’s heart beat. The Midwife said he sounded strong so all is well! Next month I have a longer appointment with lab work which includes the dreaded glucose test! Can’t say I’m looking forward to that.

I am definitely feeling some more serious kicks going on inside, much stronger than the little taps I was feeling before. I still only feel them on the right side and in the middle, never on the left side and Brian hasn’t been able to feel the kicks yet.

One of the biggest questions I get from EVERYONE is “How are you feeling?” Overall I feel really good! Sure I’ve had a few days when I feel kind of big and awkward. I’ve also had some workouts where I just feel really full and comfortable so I usually slow it down or cut it short. Some people in the Group Strength class I’ve been attending Monday mornings says they think I’m doing so great. It’s almost as if they seem surprised that I’m up and about moving around. I am hoping this feeling good lasts for awhile as I am creeping up on third trimester. I plan to teach until the end of December which would take me to 33 weeks. I really hope I can make but sometimes I get so tired from teaching I just don’t know if I will. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Last week my mother-in-law went to visit my sister-in-law in Detroit and apparently they did a little shopping for our little boy.

My sister-in-law got some ADORABLE clothes with Moose on them!

Aren’t the socks just to die for?

And my mother-law-got some cute summer clothes.

Can’t wait for the little guy to put those swim shorts on! So cute! This is going to be one well dressed kid!

Nothing else new to report here except this weekend we are going to an all day Lamaze class.Brian is REALLY excited (please note the sarcasm!) Should be interesting to say the least. I am hoping Brian and I learn a lot although I don’t think any class or book can really prepare you for all the crazy things that can happen during labor and delivery. Speaking of which, one of my favorite bloggers Emily went into labor almost two days ago and is still going strong! Lots of good thoughts and vibes to her. She’s even tweeting about her experience @DailyGarnish or check out the hashtag #babymalone.

Hope you have a great end to your week and hopefully I’ll be back this weekend with a review of our Lamaze class or maybe even a recipe or two!

Hello friends! I know that I usually do a Baby Sneaker Update on Tuesdays but I am home from work for just a short time before heading back and my photographer (a.k.a. Brian) is not home! I won’t be home until later this evening so I definitely won’t get a post up today! Tomorrow I work 9am-9pm so I wouldn’t expect an update from me until at least Thursday. I just wanted to let you know that all is well with me and the baby! Stay tuned for an update!!

Hi there! How is  your week shaping up? Mine has been pretty good so far. We are still enjoying an unusually warm fall here!

The little guy is doing just fine I can’t believe how big he is now! Baby Boy Sneaker is now the size of a spaghetti squash!

He is about 11inches long and almost 1lb! That seems so huge to me but I know we still have a long way to go! Something I read today said in the next 4 weeks the baby will double in size!

I’m not too worried with how our “fur baby” will deal with the new baby BUT I’m pretty sure she’ll do a lot of this.

That dog loves to lick things and I bet babies taste good!

Look at the bump grow!

Just one really exciting new development this week. I am most definitely feeling the baby kick! I don’t feel it very often but about once or twice a day I feel this tiny little rhythmic thumping from the inside. It’s as if he’s saying, “Hi mom! I’m here!” I love it! It makes me smile every time! I really look forward to continuing to feel him move and for Brian to be able to feel him too!

Other than that no new symptoms or cravings. In fact I’m not that into mac and cheese or dreamcicles these days (not saying I wouldn’t eat them if I had to!).

I created a registry online at Target and then headed the store to add more things in person. I had a lot of fun with that scanner gun! It took A LOT of will power not to buy every cute little boy outfit I saw! Up until now Izzy is the only one I’ve gotten to dress up and her “outfit” is pretty boring and only gets worn a couple of times a year.

With the exception of being tired in my first trimester I LOVE being pregnant! But there are a few things that I miss:

• A nice cup of coffee (or two) in the morning
• A glass of red wine in the evening
• Sushi!
• Sleeping on my stomach!

I’ve also heard “horror” stories from other pregnant women who talk about complete strangers coming up to touch their belly and making rude comments about their size. So far the only people who have touched my belly are people I know and they ask me. And no one has made any comments to me except that I look good!

To close here is my pregnancy by the numbers:

• Days until next midwife appointment: 7 (can’t believe it’s been almost a month since I last saw her
• Days until due date: 126
• Days until Master’s Thesis presentation: 60 (yikes!!)

Hope you are still enjoying these updates! Have a great day!

Hello! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend! We are still having an exceptionally warm fall here. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice and all, but it’s not really fall. I actually prefer the gradual cooling to winter!

I feel like I am at a good stopping point for my thesis work (I hope!). I’ve gotten a lot accomplished and need to meet with my advisors and get some help in library before I move on. I feel like I’ve been working hard and have done a lot a of work BUT there is still so much to do! And December will be here before I know it! Part of me would rather be thinking of all things baby but on the other hand I would much rather do this now so I can truly focus on the little guy once he is here!

Brian has made a TON of progress on the nursery. He got it painted right away. The floor took a little longer then expected plus he didn’t work on it for awhile because he took a break for hunting. Here are some before, during and after shots!

If you REALLY want to see some before shots with all the furniture in it check out this post I did last November when I got that closet under control. Most of the furniture (except the bed) went into my yoga room/office/ library.

Literally within a few hours of finding out that we were having a little boy we went shopping for paint and when we got home from a nice dinner out Brian start painting. The color is called “puppy paws” how cute is that?!

Under ALL the carpeting in our house is hardwood flooring. Brian knows that most of it in the living and dining room is pretty much ruined due to the previous owner’s dogs. I would love to have the whole house be hardwood but I think with a BIG active dog ourselves it just wouldn’t be a good idea. He was pretty sure the floors in the nursery would be in pretty good shape. He was right for the most part. There were a few staples that needed to be removed and some holes to be filled, sanded and stained but other than that it turned out pretty well! On Friday night we bought blinds too!

After

It’s kind of hard to tell the color but it’s a light brown, almost like coffee with a lot of creamer in it! I am really pleased with how the whole thing turned out. It’s so much warmer and cozier than before!

I would like to put in a new overhead light/fan with a dimmer switch and of course furniture but I think we’ll take a little break for now so I can work on my thesis and Brian can hunt. I think we got the hard stuff out of the way. I would also like to install new fire alarms in our house AND I am on the hunt for the PERFECT rug that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg so if anyone has any ideas of where I might look I would appreciate it!

Well, I have something that needs to be returned to Target, I might just have to look in to registering for a few baby items, I’ve already started a registry online but it would be nice to look at stuff in person!

Have a great rest to your weekend!

Hello there! I just got back from a beautiful walk with Izzy. We are having a little bit of an Indian Summer here, today the high was almost 80*! The fall colors in our neighborhood are AMAZING! Some the trees look like they are on fire! All the reds, oranges, and yellows I am loving it!

This week the little guy is the length of carrot, approx. 101/2 inches and weighing 3/4 of a lb. I think next week he’ll actually weigh a whole pound!

I am so grateful to my friend Aleecia who lent me some short sleeved maternity shirts which will definitely come in handy during this warm week we’re having!

Here’s the weekly “bump” photo!

I am definitely feeling more flutters, especially when I am working on thesis and hunched over the computer. The little guy reminds me to sit up straight and give him some room! I also think I felt a little something more than a flutter (like and actual kick) this morning when I was at yoga and in a squat position.  I’m pretty sure Izzy can sense or feel something. Last night she had her head on tummy and sat up pretty abruptly. I didn’t feel anything but something sure made Izzy move!

I stepped on the scale for the first time in looooooooong time and saw a number after the 1 that I haven’t seen in 10 years! I guess I wasn’t too shocked. Surprisingly I’m not stressing too much about my weight gain. I think I might have gained more then I am “suppose” to but my midwife hasn’t said anything. The exception of a few indulgences I feel like I’ve cleaned up my eats pretty well and of course I am still staying active. My workout plan for this week is:

Sunday: Long walk with Izzy

Monday: Group strength class (I was only going to attend but the teacher was sick so I taught)

Tuesday: Prenatal yoga

Wednesday: Swimming and regular yoga

Thursday: Teach GST and Cycling

Friday: Teach Cycling

Saturday: Probably swim

I feel like the only weight I’ve gained is in my belly no where else so I’m not going to worry about it…for now!

I decided that when I’m not reading research articles for my thesis I should start reading up on how to actually take care of this baby! Of course I’ve taken care of babies before but not full time! I know that I can read all I want but I won’t know for sure how to handle things until he’s here. Every baby is different so I think as many tips as I can learn will be helpful. Not to mention all my great friends and relatives who are already great moms who can give me tips. So far here’ve what I plan on reading.

What to Expect The First Year, even though  I didn’t read What to Expect When You’re Expecting a friend of mine lent it to me and I think it will be a good resource.

Baby 411, my sister-in-law bought me a book by the same authors Baby Bargain’s which I have found to be very helpful in preparing for baby so I thought Baby 411 would be a good quick reference book.

The Happiest Baby on the Block, this one got some good reviews on Amazon and focuses on developing good sleep habits.

It seems like a lot to read!

Hope I can keep up!

The main part of the nursery is ALMOST done! In fact Brian’s working on it right now! Maybe some pictures later this week! I’ve also been contemplating how life is going to change once our baby boy is here but this post is a little long already! More thoughts to come!

Hello there! Happy fall Saturday to you! It was a quintessential fall day here, sunny, cool but not cold, blue skies, and beautiful fall colors! Too bad I spent most of my day inside working on my thesis paper. It wasn’t too bad. I got a good chunk of it done and took frequent study breaks so my butt didn’t get numb.

Since, I knew I wanted to work on my paper most of today which involved sitting I knew I wanted to get a good workout in. I did the Schweaty September Workout that I did the other day but this time did 3 sets of each weight exercise and mixed up my cardio between the elliptical and the treadmill. When I first found out I was pregnant someone on a message board I was reading tipped me off to some maternity workout shirts that were on sale for $3 on Wal-Mart.com. Since I knew I wanted to continue to workout and teach throughout my pregnancy I jumped right on that and bought some. I remember when they came in mail I tried one on and laughed because it looked so HUGE. I also seem to recall trying one on a few weeks ago and thinking I looked pretty silly. Well, not today!

(Not gonna lie, since my face was covered the camera focused on “the bump!”) The shirt was really comfortable with plenty of room to grow! Surprisingly I’m still wearing the same pants I wore before I got pregnant. I hope I’m not stretching them out to much!

Some other study break activities included; some yoga stretches, a short walk in the sunshine, a nap and some cooking!

The other day on  Jenna’s blog she a posted a recipe for Kale and White Bean Soup with Golden Beets and Spicy Sausage. I thought this sounded like a very healthy recipe and would be perfect since I got a TON of kale in our CSA box this week. I did make a  few changes though. Instead of spicy turkey sausage I used some venison Italian sausage and since I got purple beets in the CSA I used those instead of golden beets. I also was out of leeks so used a small onion I had from a previous CSA box. I was surprised that the beets were quite easy to peel. Up until now I had only boiled beets and removed the skins after. I just loved all the colorful veggies all chopped up!

And the finished product.

This was very delicious! I really liked the venison Italians, gave it a nice kick! Plus there are plenty of leftovers!

Well, that’s about all from me! I’m afraid tomorrow it will me more of the same only my study breaks will probably be folding laundry!

Hope you’re having a great weekend!